Cell Phone Use Research Articles

Knowledge, Attitudes, Behaviors of Women Related to Pregnancy, and Early Childhood Caries Prevention: A Cross-Sectional Pilot Study.

ObjectiveHealth education interventions during pregnancy can influence maternal oral health (OH), maternal OH-behaviors and children’s OH. Interventions that can be delivered at anytime and anywhere, for example mobile-health (mHealth) provides an opportunity to address challenges of health education and support activation of women in underserved and rural communities to modify their health behavior. This pilot study was undertaken as a part of a mHealth initiative to determine knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors related to pregnancy and ECC prevention among women attending obstetrics/gynecology (OB/GYN) practices at a large rurally-based clinic.MethodsA cross-sectional survey study was voluntarily engaged by women (n = 191) aged 18 to 59 years attending OB/GYN visits, over a 3-week period from 12/2019 to 1/2020. Survey results were analyzed applying descriptive statistics, X2 and Fisher’s Exact tests. The significance level was set at P < .0001 for all analyses.ResultsApproximately half of respondents were between 18 and 29 years (53%), had a college degree (55%), and 100% reported cell phone use. Whereas 53% and 31%, respectively, indicated that they were “somewhat” or “very” sure of how to prevent ECC in their children, only 9% recognized evidence of early decay and 30% did not know the purpose of fluoride. Overall, only 27% of participants correctly answered the knowledge-based questions. Further, only 57% reported their provider explained things in a way that was easy to understand. Only 24% reported seeing a dentist during their current pregnancy.ConclusionsStudy results suggested potential gaps in knowledge and behaviors related to ECC prevention and provided baseline data to inform future interventions to improve ECC prevention practices. Notably, majority of participants used their cell phones for making medical/dental appointments and reported using their phones to look up health-related information. This demographic represents a potentially receptive target for mHealth approaches to improve understanding of oral health maintenance during pregnancy and ECC prevention.

Driver's age and rear-end crashes associated with distraction

Background and Objectives: Distraction is one of the affective factors in the occurrence of traffic accidents, which, in its turn, is the second leading cause of death and the main cause of years of life lost due to premature death and disability in Iran. The aim of the present study was to investigate the distracting behaviors of male drivers in rear-end crashes. Materials and Methods: This descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted on male drivers who had experienced a rear-end crash in Tabriz in 2018. In total, 395 samples (whose main reason for the crashes was inattention to the forward field of view) were selected through the information and files available at the traffic police, and after contacting the subjects, the required information was entered in the checklist. Nine distraction factors were classified and ranked into three age groups of young, middle-aged, and older drivers. Results: Findings showed that distractions caused by mobile phone use and passengers were ranked first to third in all three age groups and distracting factors such as eating or drinking while driving, alcohol consumption, and sleepiness were in the last ranks. In addition, older drivers were ranked first in not identifying the distraction factors, and in the middle-aged group, the distraction caused by billboards was the leading cause of crashes. Conclusions: Adopting appropriate policies, such as law enforcement and cultural interventions to prevent driver distractions, and to control the in-car conversation, and cell phone use while driving can be considered as effective interventions to prevent rear-end crashes.

Micronucleus Assay in Cell Phone Users: Importance of Oral Mucosa Screening.

Background:One of the concerns of cell phone users is prolonged exposure to harmful and potentially carcinogenic waves. This study was aimed to investigate the correlation between amount of cell phone use and related factors with percentage of micronucleus containing cells.Methods:This descriptive study was conducted on selected patients referring to Islamic Azad University Faculty of Dentistry using cell phones regarding related inclusion and exclusion criteria. Papanicolaou staining method was approached for mucosal smears of samples and frequency of micronucleus containing cells and also, frequency of micronucleus in each cell were recorded for each sample; then, correlation of these findings with amount of daily cell phone usage was statistically analyzed using the calculation of Pearson correlation coefficient and preparation of regression analysis (backward) with significant level of lower than 0.05.Results:Of 100 samples, the frequency of micronucleus containing cells was 2.94% ± 1.89% and the frequency of micronucleus in each cell was 1.02% ± 1.68%. The amount of cell phone usage was significantly correlated with the frequency of micronucleus containing cells (r = 0.70, P = 0.0001) and also with the frequency of micronucleus in each cell (r = 0.57, P = 0.0001). Also, age and sex were not significantly correlated with the frequency of micronucleus containing cells (P = 0.47 and 0.32) and also with the frequency of micronucleus in each cell, respectively (P = 0.16 and 0.27).Conclusions:The present study showed that the increased amount of cell phone usage had a strong and significant correlation with the higher frequency of the micronucleus containing cells and the higher frequency of micronucleus in each cell in the buccal mucosa. Also, the related factors as age and sex were not significantly correlated with the frequency of micronucleus containing buccal mucosa cells.

Sedentary behavior in children and adolescents: an update of the systematic review of the Brazil’s Report Card

Abstract This review updated data on sedentary behavior in Brazilian children and adolescents for the Brazil’s Report Card 4.0. The searching was carried out in eight databases (PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science, LILACS, SPORTDiscus, BIREME, Scielo, and Google Scholar), based on the the following criteria: original research; samples including Brazilian children and adolescents; to be a observational survey with the prevalence of at least one component of sedentary behavior. In this updated review were included 118 studies (corresponding to 159 papers), being 71 studies (104 papers) previously reviewed in the Report Card 3.0 and 47 studies (55 papers) found in update from 2018 to 2019. Screen time (34.7%) and TV viewing (28.2%) remains the most investigated components, however, two studies investigated cell phone use, and there was an increase in other types of sedentary behavior such as sitting time (from 9% to 25.6%). We found only four studies involving pre-scholars, but four of them covered almost all age groups. Self-reported questionnaire was the instrument more used; however, increased the studies using accelerometers (from 2 to 8 studies). The cut-off point more frequent was 2 hours/day (47.5%), but the use of other measures doubled. Almost 70% of the studies reported that less than 50% (general range: 9.4% to 97.7%) of individuals had &lt; 2 hours/day of sedentary behavior. The updated review found few studies with prescholars and children; using validated instruments; using accelerometers, with standardization of cutoff points, and prevalences very close to what was observed in the previous review.

Gender-based behavioural segmenting of the cellphone youth market

The purpose of this study is to investigate the existence of behavioural segments (clusters) among youth regarding the cellphone communication market in Finland. Specific cellphone behaviours are used as a cluster variate. The cellphone behaviours used are: 'necessity of modern times', 'cost efficiency', 'safety/security', 'dependency', 'negatives' and 'functionality', per Aoki and Downes's (2003) research on cellphone use. Separate behavioural clusters were devised for both males and females on the basis of the behaviours. Four unique behavioural clusters among the male respondents ('middle of the road', 'feature freaks', 'all important', and 'minimalists') and three unique behavioural clusters among the female respondents ('dependents', 'advanced users', and 'cost matters') were detected. Each cluster had a unique group of benefits sought, with no overlapping clusters between genders. After these clusters were identified they were then profiled using age, gender and the behavioural variables as profilers. This research serves to help market researchers and cellphone producers alike better understand how and why cellphones are used in the youth marketplace.

Mere Presence of a Cell Phone: Effects on Academic Ability

Prior research has suggested that cell phone use in the classroom and during learning-related tasks is detrimental to academic performance. Recently, the mere presence of a cell phone has been found to negatively affect relationships and to impair performance on learning and cognitive tasks. This study explored whether the presence (visibility without use) of a cell phone negatively impacts one’s performance on tests measuring preexisting academic ability. The study evaluated 45 participants; some were enrolled in an introductory psychology course, and others were members of the public. Three subtests from the Wide Range Achievement Test (WRAT-4) were completed: spelling, sentence comprehension, and mathematics. During testing, half of the participants had cell phones, and the other half did not. Statistical analyses revealed no significant difference between the cell phone-present and cell phone-absent group on the sentence comprehension (p=.52), spelling (p=.07), and mathematics subtest (p=.11). Unexpectedly, a non-significant trend was observed in the opposite direction; that is, the cell phone-present group outperformed the cell phone-absent group on all subtests. Therefore, the original hypothesis suggesting that the cell phone-present group would be significantly poorer at demonstrating preexisting skills on tests of academic ability in comparison to the cell phone-present group was not supported.

The Prevalence of Mobile Phone Use in The School Going Children in North Al Batinah Region of Oman: A Cross Sectional Study

The use of mobile phones has become increasingly common among general population, but how much has it increased among the young school going population remains to be seen.Our objective was to investigate the prevalence of mobile phone use, during and after school hours, and its ownership in the primary and secondary section students in Oman.We surveyed 414 students in Cycle 1 and 1438 students in Cycle 2 in the city of Sohar, North Al Batinah region of Oman. Students completed a paper-based questionnaire about mobile phone use, the apps they use and whether their parents keep a check on their cell phone use. 86% of primary section students reported using a mobile phone whereas 91% of students in secondary section reported use of mobile phone. Most popular mobile use among the primary section students were playing games on mobile phones whereas, secondary section students mostly used their phones to access internet. 86.7% of primary section students said that their parents were aware of how they used their mobile phones compared to 83.4% students in secondary section. Smart phone ownership and its use in school going students in Oman have increased from the past and is now almost the same in the students of primary and secondary sections. Students now start using mobile at a much younger age;however, the parents are well aware of the contents on their children’s mobile devices and sometimes even take away their mobile phone as punishment.

Outdoor Falls Prevention Strategy Use and Neighborhood Walkability Among Naturally Occurring Retirement Community Residents.

Outdoor falls present a significant challenge to the health and well-being of older adults. Safe strategy use is an important component of falls prevention, yet little is known regarding use of outdoor falls prevention strategies. To examine outdoor falls prevention strategy use among naturally occurring retirement community residents at risk for falls, and to examine associations with neighborhood walkability. Descriptive analyses of pretest data from an intervention study (N = 97) were conducted to examine frequency of outdoor falls prevention strategy use. Walk Score® data were added to the dataset, and chi-square tests of independence were used to examine associations between walkability categories and outdoor falls prevention strategy use. Some strategies, such as visual scanning and holding rails on stairs, were used by 70% or more of participants while others, such as route planning, were infrequently or inconsistently used. With the exception of avoiding cell phone use while walking outdoors, no significant associations were found between walkability categories and outdoor falls prevention strategy use. Study findings serve as a needs assessment for health education and behavioral training.

Moderating Effect of Race and Ethnicity Between Technology Use and Social Isolation

Social isolation among older adults has brought about poor outcomes of their health and well-being. Information and Communication technology (ICT) is known to alleviate social isolation of older adults. However, it is unknown how ICT access and use are associated with social isolation by race. This study examined the association of ICT and social isolation from the National Health and Aging Trends Study (NHATS), estimating moderating effects of race and ethnicity. The sample for this study was community dwelling Medicare beneficiaries aged 65+ (n=5,567). An index for ICT was formed from five domains: social network websites, email and texting, working cellphone, tablet devices and online computer use (range 1-5, mean=3.96, SD=0.927), and social isolation was derived from responses to five areas: living arrangement, attending religious activities, numbers of important people to talk with, attending other activities such as club participation and volunteer work (range=0-2, mean=1.74, SD=0.927). Race and ethnicity included White (69.6%), African-American (20.7%), Hispanic (5.5%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (2.5%). Multiple linear regression was used using a moderating effect of race/ethnicity, including relevant covariates. Findings revealed increased ICT use was associated with lower social isolation (b=0.05, p<0.05), and race/ethnicity was a significant moderator in the association between ICT and social isolation for African-Americans (b=0.08, p<0.05) and Hispanics (b=0.15, p<0.05) compared to White older adults. The findings indicate that racial differences should be considered when applying technology use to reduce older adults’ social isolation. Practitioners can provide racially competent ICT services for older adults interested in tech-based communication.

Do Distracted Driving Laws Impact Cell Phone Usage on (Preventable) Outcomes While Driving: A Systematic Review of the Last 20 Years?

Background/Objective: &#x0D; Distracted driving due to cellphone use can lead to serious and fatal consequences. In 2017, an estimated 14% of all distraction-affected fatal crashes in the U.S. were related to the driver’s cellphone use. Many states have passed distracted driving laws to help reduce the number of unfortunate outcomes related to a driver’s cellphone use. It is important to evaluate whether these laws are truly effective at building safer roads. The main objective of this proposed study is to execute a systematic review of literature published in the last 20 years in order to further the understanding of how distracted driving laws affect drivers’ cellphone usage and its associated outcomes. &#x0D; Proposed Methods: &#x0D; A systematic review will be conducted using the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis (PRISMA) statement established by Moher et al. The various steps that will be taken to properly select and analyze articles include eligibility criteria, information sources and search strategy, study selection, evaluation of selected articles, data collection, and summary measures. &#x0D; Expected Results: &#x0D; After implementing the various steps from the PRISMA statement, certain articles will be selected to fulfill the research objective. It is expected that most of the publications selected for this systematic review will be in support of distracted driving laws. It is also expected that these laws are in fact effective at reducing drivers’ cellphone use and various negative outcomes, such as crashes. &#x0D; Conclusions/Potential Impact: &#x0D; A systematic review will be completed utilizing the proposed protocol written in the summer of 2020. If needed, additional details and changes will be applied to the protocol before the study officially begins. This systematic review may help us gain an understanding of the effects of distracted driving laws, which may impact the approach to creating future policies and interventions intended to promote safer driving roads.

The prevalence, risks and associations of problematic cell phone use and sexting on mental health

PurposeThis paper aims to provide an examination of how cell phone use and sexting are impacting society and our mental health.Design/methodology/approachMental health risks are becoming prominent in this worldwide epidemic affecting children, teens and adults. Cell phones are problematic because of their addictive nature and associations with adverse mental health consequences.FindingsBecause of the mental health implications, it is important to study the prevalence, risk factors, effects, associations and treatment options for excessive cell phone use, including sexting.Originality/valueThis conceptual paper explores the impact of cell phone use and sexting on our mental health.

Examining the Relationship between Cellphone Use Behavior, Perceived Exercise Benefit and Physical Exercise Level Among University Students in Taiwan.

This study investigated how perceived exercise benefit affects the relationship between cellphone usage and physical activity level. This cross-sectional study performed a survey of Taiwanese university students selected using cluster sampling. A total of 975 students were recruited (male = 367, female = 608, average age = 20.10 ± 1.42). Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, correlation analysis, and hierarchical regression. The results show that cellphone usage was negatively correlated with physical activity level, whereas perceived exercise benefit was negatively correlated with cellphone usage and positively correlated with physical activity level. In hierarchical regression, the main effects of cellphone usage and perceived exercise benefit explained 22% of the variance in physical activity level. After controlling for the main effect, the interaction term accounted for an additional 1% of the variance. Cellphone usage and perceived exercise benefit thus had significant power to explain physical activity level. The results of this study reveal a novel phenomenon—that students who perceived the benefits of exercise to be greater are more physically active.

The Impact of Radiofrequency Waves on Male Infertility: A Systematic Review

Context: As the use of cellphones and other electronic devices increases, concerns about the possible effect of radiofrequency waves on health are growing. Long-term use of the cellphone may have negative effects on sperm quality. Objectives: The purpose of this research was to examine men's infertility due to the effect of radiofrequency waves. Methods: In this systematic review, language restrictions were not considered in searching the databases. Cochrane Library, Google Scholar, PubMed, EMBASE, ProQuest, CINAHL, Science Direct, MEDLINE, and Scopus were used to obtain the data from them. All data were scanned from the year 2000 until 2019. Papers selected for retrieval were evaluated by the Newcastle-Ottawa and CONSORT scales. Results: A total of 14 articles that met the inclusion criteria were ultimately assessed. Motile sperm, sperm vitality and membrane integrity, morphology, volume, total sperm count, sperm concentration, and sperm fertility were found to be influenced by radiofrequency waves. Conclusions: The results showed that RF has detrimental effects on semen parameters and due to an increase in RF wave use currently and its role in male infertility, giving information to men about adverse complications of RF is necessary. Further studies are needed to design the less harmful devices.

Cellphone laws and teens\u2019 calling while driving: analysis of repeated cross-sectional surveys in 2013, 2015, 2017, and 2019

BackgroundDistracted driving among teens is a public health and safety concern. Most states in the U.S. have sought to restrict cellphone use while driving by enacting laws. This study examines the difference in prevalence of self-reported calling while driving (CWD) between states with different cellphone bans.MethodsDemographics and CWD data were extracted from state Youth Risk Behavior Surveys (YRBS) from 14 states in 2013, 2015, 2017, and 2019. The state YRBS is conducted every 2 years with a representative sample of 9th through 12th grade students attending public school. States were grouped by type of cellphone law(s): no ban (the absence of both handheld calling ban and young driver ban), young driver ban (a ban on all forms of cellphone use while driving, for young drivers only), or concurrent ban (a young driver ban plus a ban on handheld calling for all drivers irrespective of age). Poisson regression models with robust variance were used to estimate prevalence ratios comparing CWD prevalence across ban types.ResultsIn total, 157,423 high school students participated in the surveys, and 65,044 (45%) participants reached the minimum age to obtain an intermediate license and drove during the 30 days prior the survey. Approximately 53% of participants reported CWD at least once during the previous 30 days, and the percentages varied widely by states (range: 51–55%). Compared to students from states with no ban, those from states with concurrent bans were 19%(95% CI: 14–24%) less likely to engage in CWD. Students in states with concurrent bans were 23% less likely to engage in CWD compared to students in states with young driver bans (95% CI:17–27%).ConclusionsEngaging in CWD is common among teen drivers. The concurrent implementation of a handheld calling ban and a young driver ban was associated with a lower prevalence of CWD.

Thoughts on Incivility: A Preliminary Study to Identify Uncivil Behavior in Indonesian Higher Education

This preliminary study aims to identify an item list of uncivil behaviors in the Indonesian educational environment. The study comprises three phases: first, a panel of experts assessed each item to ensure their content validity for items pool. The second phase used a cross-sectional design and convenience sampling to recruit 524 students and faculty members in seven provinces in Indonesia using an online survey. The third phase involved ten students from the second phase and several faculty representatives were randomly selected to complete the open-ended questionnaire. Principal component analysis (PCA) identified four factors, including disregard for instructors/annoyances, disrespect for others (verbal and non-verbal), misconduct and integrity violation, and use of cell phones. Furthermore, the results indicate that "getting up during a class,leaving and returning,” “arriving late and/or leaving early," “not paying attention in the class,” “texting,” “packing books before the class is dismissed,” “cheating during an exam,” and “sleeping during the class” were the top seven highest recurring behaviors. This study provides tentative support for a preliminary scale in identifying uncivil behavior among college populations in Indonesia.

Effects of Individual Differences, Attention, and Memory Deficits on Driver Distraction

The current study was designed to empirically examine the effects of individual differences in attention and memory deficits on driver distraction. Forty-eight participants consisting of 37 non-ADHD and 11 ADHD drivers were tested in a medium fidelity GE-ISIM driving simulator. All participants took part in a series of simulated driving scenarios involving both high and low traffic conditions in conjunction with completing a 20-Questions task either by text- message or phone-call. Measures of UFOV, simulated driving, heart rate variability, and subjective (NASA TLX) workload performance were recorded for each of the experimental tasks. It was hypothesized that ADHD diagnosis, type of cellular distraction, and traffic density would affect driving performance as measured by driving performance, workload assessment, and physiological measures. Preliminary results indicated that ADHD diagnosis, type of cellular distraction, and traffic density affected the performance of the secondary task. These results provide further evidence for the deleterious effects of cellphone use on driver distraction, especially for drivers who are diagnosed with attention-deficit and memory capacity deficits. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed, and directions for future research are also presented.

Differential Associations between Risky Cell-Phone Behaviors and Discounting Types

As cell-phone use increases, the probability for individuals to engage in risky behaviors while using cell phones also increases. Previous studies have shown significant positive associations between increasing risky behaviors while using cellphones (i.e., texting while driving [TWD] and using smartphones while walking [USWW]) and increased delay discounting rates. These participant samples were obtained either in the United States or Japan and did not measure both risky behaviors. The present study measured both self-reported TWD and USWW for 456 U.S. college participants to determine whether these risky cell-phone behaviors were associated with each other, and/or with increased delay and social discounting rates. Results indicated that self-reported TWD and USWW were significantly positively associated with each other (r = 0.42). Neither TWD nor USWW were associated with delay discounting rates. However, increased TWD was significantly related to increasing social discounting rates. USWW was not significantly associated with increased social discounting rates. These results show differential associations between risky behaviors while using cell phones and different discounting measures (delay and social). In addition, USWW rates were about two times larger for U.S. participants, relative to a previous Japanese sample, suggesting that culture and perceived risk may affect subsequent associations with discounting rates.

Exploring the Student’s Perceptions on Safety Aspects of the University of Nizwa Bus Service in Oman

The crashes of educational institutions buses have become common and posing a serious risk to students’ lives in Oman. There are many reasons for the increasing bus crashes including driver’s risk-taking behavior and non-compliance with traffic laws. This study aims to assess the safety aspects of the University of Nizwa bus service considering the perceptions of its students. A questionnaire was designed, and the student’s perceptions were asked on driving attitudes, styles and norms, and some other selected attributes of bus service safety. The total collected samples were 350. Almost 30% of the students have experienced a crash while traveling on the bus. Student’s perceptions showed that speeding and cell phone usage are the main reasons for the bus crashes as drivers frequently use cell phone and exceed the speed limits. Some students believed that the age and experience of the drivers influence their driving behavior and crash propensity. Bus service reliability and comfort, driver’s driving habits, norms, and compliance with traffic signs are underlying factors of student’s intentions to use the bus service in the future. Strict enforcement related to the use of cell phone and exceeding the speed limits and proper compliance of drivers with traffic rules would help in improving the safety of bus service. The educational institutions should develop a clear safety policy regarding the hiring of drivers for buses and monitoring of their behavior during driving. There is also a need to initiate special training and awareness programs for the bus drivers of educational institutions.

Legislative preparedness for the control of pandemics - using Taiwan as an example.

At the early stage of an emerging disease, information is often insufficient for governments to determine what actions are necessary to contain its transmission. Taiwanese society was not prepared when the SARS epidemic hit in 2003. After the SARS epidemic, Taiwan began to overhaul its Communicable Disease Control Act authorising the government to act in a murky situation without the fear of violating due process. In hindsight, the new law has contributed a large part to the effective containment of Covid-19 in Taiwan. However, a new issue emerged concerning the conflict between an individual's freedom of confidential communication and the government's use of cell phone positioning to monitor self-quarantine. Although Taiwan's Council of Grand Justices previously resolved the concern over potential breaching of due-process, the legislature may have to strike a balance between public health emergency and the use of an electronic footprint to trace individual activities.

Does cell phone use increase the risk of cancer?

Carl R Darnall Army Medical Center, Fort Hood, TX The authors declare no conflicts of interest. The opinions and assertions contained herein are those of the authors and are not to be construed as official or as reflecting the views of the US Army Medical Department, the Army at large, or the Department of Defense.